BlackRock's Edge: Why Tech Is Creating AMZN of Wall Street

On a large flat-screen monitor perched in front of a framed orange-and-blue Warhol print of Teddy Roosevelt as a Rough Rider, BlackRock's chief operating officer, Rob Goldstein, is looking over the entirety of the financial firm's $6 trillion in global assets--135 teams with positions in hundreds of markets in 30 countries. He is using software that he's been perfecting for the 23 years he has spent at the company. A simple gray column on the left reveals BlackRock's activity on this quiet pre-Thanksgiving day: There are some 25,000 trade orders in the market, 77,000 trades and thousands of collateral calls. A wider view colorfully identifies the specific portfolio managers and traders initiating the moves.